Ellen L. Simms

Professor

Research Description

We are fascinated by evolution in natural populations. We study how contemporary evolution affects ecological interactions between plants and other organisms, such as herbivores, pathogens, and mutualists. We seek to understand which mechanisms influence the evolution of traits important to biotic interactions. We also apply ecological and evolutionary theory to improve plant conservation, control of invasive species, and ecosystem services.

Current graduate students and postdocs are studying

how metapopulation structure influences resilience and risk of metapopulation extinction

how cooperation traits in legume hosts and rhizobium symbionts evolve in response to natural selection by nitrogen and carbon dioxide enrichment, and how these evolutionary changes are influencing ecosystem services

population genetic structure of N-fixing Bradyrhizobium of native and invasive legumes

the structure of terrestrial cyanobacterial populations

Past graduate students have studied

natural selection on mutualistic traits in legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria

evolution in a community of figs and fig-wasps

natural selection on ecological and reproductive traits in selfing and outcrossing populations of annual lupines

the role of heavy metal sequestration in herbivore defense of serpentine plants